The 2007 Rototom Sunsplash festival was once again a great success: the audience increased, passing from 140 to 150 thousand people from over 16 different counties; the camping area, which was already full on the first Friday, increased its services (nearly doubling the number of toilets there were in 2005); also the structures were safer (no damages were caused by a sudden hailstorm that hit us). As regards the artistic side, both the number and variety of shows and cultural activities increased. However, as often is the case, when the number of visitors increases, new problems arise: there were far too many thefts in the camping site and the overall atmosphere in certain, though limited, camping areas was not that of the happy, relaxed environment that we would like to offer at the festival. Since we do not like to conceal problems but prefer to face them in time and with a good amount of self-criticism, we are already working on this problem, so that it will not arise again in the future.

For the year 2008, one of our key objectives is to re-organize the camping area: we intend both to improve the services and the quality of the area, and avoid that people who do not share our ideals of peace and respect can ruin the atmosphere and everyday life of the campers. We really want to create a small but better world in the Rivellino Park, and we are ready to do everything in our power to avoid the presence of “undesired guests” (thieves and pushers) who would like to transform our oasis of peace into a no-man’s land, grabbing the opportunity to carry out illicit trafficking. The Rototom Sunsplash must remain the free and happy meeting ground it always was.
We believe that by doing so, we are interpreting the will of all the Sunsplash people: we want a “clean” Sunsplash (with no heavy drugs), a safe and peaceful festival, where thefts, tension and violent acts must not feature. All our efforts are aimed in this direction, but to achieve this aim, we need all your solidarity, comprehension and collaboration.

First news for 2008

In order to enter into the camping area it will be necessary to provide your name and personal details, as required by most camping sites in Europe. We know that this is a bit of a “pain”, and we too will not enjoy writing down the names and addresses of 10-20,000 persons, but we believe that this may discourage many ill-intentioned persons from coming to the festival and most of all, we will finally be able to avoid their coming back into the festival. Last year the security staff caught and expelled from the festival grounds the same person (who was stealing from the tents) four times on the same day!!!

All our efforts will also be directed to find and select the most appropriate security staff for the festival. We intend to set up serious, reliable and well organised security service. There will be seven teams (one of which will be devoted to controlling the camping area at night), each of which will have a specific task. Good manners and politeness will be considered indispensable.

Urbanization and more space

The festival’s camping area will be organized like a real town: it will have its streets, squares and meeting areas. In order to improve your holiday, we will offer a wider range of services, including a launderette, bicycle rent and a self-managed luggage transport service.
Teams of workers are already busy in the Rivellino Park to make the park even more beautiful: the grounds are being harrowed to ensure better drainage in the event of heavy rain, new lawns will be established, thistles and brier bushes will be eliminated, new trees and flowers will be planted, and we shall add benches and litter baskets. By the beginning of next year’s festival we will have planted over 200 new trees, and the Town Council of Osoppo has promised us to improve public lighting.